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Opening statement:**
"Good afternoon. We had a good week of work on both sides of the ball – good practices, attention to detail, staying focused on the things we needed to stay focused on for this game. I am very excited about the opportunity we have this Sunday in terms of the opponent being a division rival. We know who they are. We know they execute really well. We know they won the division four out of the last five years. For us, it is just a matter of getting ourselves ready to go out and do what we do. I am very excited about the opportunity at hand. As far as the injuries are concerned, everybody is pretty much healthy with the exception of [LB] Ahmad Brooks. He is out. [WR] Brandon Jones is doubtful for the game. Everybody else is in pretty good shape."
On Jones' performance in practice this week:
"I don't think it was a situation where he was in play-shape right now, game-time shape. I think it is a matter of him having this week to get the rust out. Then next week, hopefully, we'll see how it goes. It was great to have him out there, and I know he felt good, but he's just not game ready yet."
On whether Jones' shoulder has recovered:
"Absolutely. The speed of the game and the tempo of the game and the awareness and all those things, it was just great to get him back in and get him acclimated this week. Next week, hopefully we will see what happens."
On whether T Tony Pashos will play Sunday:
"He will play some. He will play some."
On whether that move represents a setback for T Adam Snyder:
"No, I don't think so. I just think it is just a matter of anytime you have someone like a Tony Pashos, you want to work him in where you can and see where it is at. He may play a couple plays, he may play more than that. It just depends on how things are going."
On whether this game provides a good opportunity to show how far the team has come under his direction:
"It really isn't about last year. It really is all about this year. It is an opportunity for us to go out and play a good football team that happens to be in our division. I don't really think it has anything to do with last year. I don't look back at that at all."
On whether the kickers will go to the stadium Friday or Saturday to get accustomed to the wind:
"Not really. I think for us, just being just being out here, particularly in the early going. Maybe later on in the year, something like that as the wind picks up more, maybe we will consider that. Right now, I think it is more important for him to be here and focus on what we are doing here."
On how much Brain Billick helped him in his coaching career:
"Brian was great. I don't think it is any secret that Brain has a tremendous amount of confidence in himself. There were some coaches in the league at that particular time that were a little cautious about having me be a part of the squad simply because of some of the things I have done before, but not Brian. Brian brought me in and said, 'Hey, anything you want to know, anything I can help you with, anything you want to do, I am going to make everything accessible to you. Let's go.' And that is what I did. It was a tremendous blessing for me to have the opportunity to be a part of his staff. I learned a lot from him and the way he went about organizing the things he had to do. Of course I met Mike Nolan at the same time, so that just made it great all around."
On a speech he gave to the Ravens in 2000:
"Basically, it was just a situation where they were playing very well and they were just coming together. I think it was maybe the 10th game of the season, and they were playing the Dallas Cowboys that weekend and really did a great job. I looked at the team, I watched them play and I saw the energy. I just confirmed what they already knew, and that was they were definitely a Super Bowl team. It was just a matter of if they could capture that vision and take it the rest of the way. They were on after that. They were on before that."
On what jobs were on his radar in 2000:
"I can't remember all the things that were going on at the time. But I knew Baylor, certainly if not that year then the next year, or something like that. They had begun to talk about it and maybe suggest something like that."
On whether he embraces the 49ers history:
"It is very important for me, I am a historian anyway. I love history because history tells me everything about why things are the way they are right now. The most important thing I look at when I look at the history of the 49ers is just the family and how things went. Some of the things that transpired through the years, how they bought the team and they brought Bill Walsh in and how those things went down and how he acquired certain players to be a part of something he was trying to do. They went 2-14 two years prior to winning that Super Bowl that year. Eddie DeBartolo and the relationship he had with Bill Walsh and what they were able to do together was very special."
On whether he will attend Eddie DeBartolo Jr.'s Hall of Fame induction:
"My wife and I will go by for a bit then get back to what we are doing."
On the offensive line's ability to communicate at home:
"I don't think the noise will be as much of a factor. But, I think regardless of where we play from here on out, I think it is very important for them to get better, and they will. It was a tremendous lesson for them to learn early on. That was huge for them to be able to work through that and put together that long drive, that 15-play drive. They were able to overcome it for that moment and try and get something going there. So that was a good thing. But going forward, I don't care if we are at home or on the road, we just have to get it better."
On what the offensive line has done different in practice this week:
"I think so. Just watching them, it is a matter of pad level. It is a matter of doing all the little things they need to do to get better. You watch it, and you see them get better."
On the importance of Sunday's game:
"Every game we play, to me, is extremely important. I won't look at this game any different than the game we play next week, any different from any game we play midseason or the end of the season. I just think it is important for us to look at every opportunity we have, every game as an opportunity to go out and try and just win one more game. Every game we win, it is going to give us that much more confidence and that is all that really matters right now. We need confidence. Going forward, that is the thing we have to earn."
